"You shameless slut, hurry now and apologize to Master Jayden," Rose screamed pushing Emily towards the door.
Why was she pushing her? Rose should be the shameless one not her. She was the one who had drugged her and taken her to a strange man the previous night.
"Let me go!" Emily protested.
"Go? No, you won't. Run along, go and apologize to Master Jayden. You will not ruin our chance. The wedding must be held tomorrow," Olivia joined in.
"Don't come in here anymore. Out!" Rose shouted pushing her roughly out of the door.
"You will remain there till you do what is right. And if you fail to do so, I will strangle you," Rose finished. She held her on her neck, strangling her. Emily struggled to breath. Rose shoved her roughly to the floor and banged the door on her face. Emily coughed and tried to regain her breath. It was a working day and she might be sacked if she skipped work. She was tired, cold and hungry. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.
"Open up, please," she cried. But no one came to her rescue.
Noah Harper sat down in his exquisite office. A frown greased his face. His thin lips were slightly pursed and his custom made black suit accentuated his tall and lean figure. He was tapping away on the keyboard of his laptop with his long and bony fingers when a knock came at the door.
"Come in," he said without raising his face. His secretary, James Sullivan walked in holding a tablet .
"Good morning sir," he greeted but got no response from Noah. Noah raised his head and his cold gaze flickered briefly towards James. The next moment, his eyes focused on his laptop, completely ignoring his secretary. James stood still, waiting for the permission to speak. After what seemed like eternity, he realized that Noah was not going to pay him any attention. It was a silent indication for him to get out. But it was an urgent matter, so he decided to risk it.
"President Harper," he called carefully to avoid offending his boss.
Noah stopped what he was doing. His cold gaze made James shiver.
"What is it?" Noah finally asked him.
"Sir, the press has some news about you," James said.
Noah starred at him. The press always had his news. Why was this one different? It will possibly be serious and urgent that was why James brought it to his notice. He stretched his slender hands to James saying,
"Let me see."
James came closer and handed him the tablet. Noah looked at the news and felt his blood boil. The news headline was catchy.
'The gay ceo of Blackwood Towers, Noah Harper in bed with a strange woman.'
It meant that his affair last night had come to light. Here was a photo captured by the press. He read further,
'The gay ceo of Blackwood Towers, Noah Harper was spotted last night having a pleasant time with an unknown woman. Following this…'
He didn't read any more. He banged his fists so hard on the table that the secretary staggered back in fear. The cup of coffee on the table flew up and crashed on the floor breaking into pieces.
"Find that slut. I am going to murder her," he instructed in anger.
His secretary bowed and left instantly.
"Ahhhhhh," Noah screamed throwing down everything on his table.
"That slut! She did this on purpose. I will deal with her," he muttered to himself. He was pacing to and fro in his office waiting impatiently for some information about that girl.
Ten minutes later, his secretary came in.
"I have found her sir," he announced.
Noah turned, his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he was going to murder someone that instant.
"Who is she?"
James read from his tablet.
"Emily Grant.
Age:21
Address: Number 37 Avenue, Wale's Street."
"Get my car ready," Noah instructed.
"Yes sir," responded the secretary. He left to carry out the task.
Noah left his office. The driver was waiting for him in front of the building.
"Drive," he ordered irritably.
The driver was perplexed. He just said drive. Where was he supposed to drive to?
"Sir, where do I take you?" he asked cautiously.
Noah cast him a death glare.
"Get out," he ordered.
The driver obeyed immediately. Noah entered the car and drove off.
The car came to a halt at number 37 Avenue, Wales Street. He opened the door and stepped out. There, in front of the house was the young girl from last night. She sat like a kitten looking miserable and pitiful. But Noah was filled with rage and anger with no ounce of pity. He wished he could kill her right away for framing him last night. He walked to the door and gave the sleeping girl a rough kick. She jerked awake and stood up almost immediately. He studied her closely. The kiss marks and love bites from last night were visible on her neck. That disgusted him further.
Emily looked to see who it was. She thought it was her sister or mother. But, the shoes, they belonged to a man and they worth more than her family's networth. She looked up and saw his face. The man was tall and had exceptional facial features. He wore an office shirt unbuttoned to his clavicle. The aura of asceticism coming off him made her heart skip a beat.
"You slut. Why did you do it?" Noah asked sternly.
Do what? Emily was confused. She stared at him, confusion written all over her face.
"You want to act like you don't know what I am talking about, you idiot." Noah said again, advancing menacingly towards her. Emily moved a step back at every step he took.
"It was you last night, you disgusting harlot. What was your aim? To dent my image by seducing me and selling the news to the press?"
Emily's mouth fell open. She took out her phone quickly and went to the news page. She saw the headline and broke into a cold sweat. The views on the page was well above 3 million in just twenty minutes. Wait, she was involved in a scandal with the powerful ceo? It was over for her. She opened her mouth to explain that she knew nothing about this. But Noah pulled her roughly towards the car. He shoved her in and shut the door. He turned
on the ignition and said two words,
"Marry me."
A pack of chips was thrown at him and he caught it. On looking up, he saw his friend, Frank. “Man! You always know the right thing to bring,” Noah said and opened the chips and began snacking on them. “Sure. I knew you would need that.”“It's been like forever. It's good to see you,” Noah stood up and shook hands with his friend. “What I like more is that you look so bright now. No longer the dull and sad young man of some months ago. I'm glad you have recovered,” Frank intoned. “I don't want to keep regretting. I only hope to find the answers soon. Once again, thanks for the chips. I so much needed it cos this work is a whole lot.”“Let's hang out later today, will you be free?”“Err…” Noah started but his friend interrupted. “Yes, you will. Clear your schedule. It's been a long time since we saw each other. Almost eight months, I deserve a better treatment. You are coming, right?”Noah laughed and threw up his hands in a mock surrender. As he promised, Noah arranged his schedu
“It's fine. I'm good,” he finally said. “Thank you sir. Liam, leave…” she began but Noah cut in,“I said it's fine. Let him be.”“Yes sir,” the teacher said, unsure if she heard correctly. Seeing her still standing there, Noah gestured her to leave and she did so immediately. “My baby boy. Let's round up the competition and I'll see you after that, okay?”“Okay daddy!”Noah finally stood up and led Liam back to where he was to receive his prize. To everyone seated in that room, Noah was a perfect gentleman who took care of a child that ran to his arms. What they didn't know was that he was the boy's father. Only a few teachers who were from Liam's school knew that After the handing of prizes and the end of the competition, Noah and the other important guests filed out of the hall. Jones didn't make it anymore due to unforeseen circumstances. “Congratulations! Liam. You made our school proud!” Mrs Lane, the organising teacher for the competition in their school said to him.“Thank
Then the boy bowed and walked back to his seat. Noah sat up, suddenly interested. One thing that didn't escape Noah's notice was the additional last name. He guessed Emily was waiting for the boy to get used to Muxin again before tactfully striking out his original surname, which was his too. He didn't know Liam was participating in that competition. It became clearer to him why the boy had been asking him so many questions in mathematics lately. He enrolled him into the competition as he promised and he had been coaching him relentlessly, irrespective of his mood. Liam had a tablet, specifically for study and that was where every lesson went on, online. Noah hadn't had much time to check his messages to attend to messages outside academic issues from his son. Liam asked the questions using his study tablet and his father responded. There was more or less no personal interaction between them in the study tablet. He took out his phone at this point and checked his messages. Truly, he
A few months had passed and Emily had gotten over the divorce and was living happily with her son. She thought life had finally given her a happily ever after but no. Life has other plans and it wasn't time for a break yet. Noah sat in his office in the USA. He returned the previous day and was in his office that morning, drinking coffee. Following the divorce, Noah decided to leave the country and go back to the United Kingdom where he stayed after he got married to Emily ten years ago. Jones supported him too. According to him, he needed a break and he could use that opportunity to look after a branch of his company down there. He stole a glance at the clock and sighed. It was 8:30 am. He took up his phone and dialed a number. “Hey! You better start coming if you don't want me to kill you,” he said as soon as the call was answered. “It hasn't gotten to killing me, you brat! I know you love me too much to do so. Don't worry, I'll be there in no time, okay?” his friend, Jones, ans
They drank in silence and as Jones predicted, Noah started feeling better and light headed with time. Jones allowed him to drink even when he was drunk. He wanted him to get drunk so he would sleep that night. He knew his friend very well and knew his reaction when he was looking for Emily over ten years ago. Now that he had lost her, he feared the worst for Noah. His friend loved his wife dearly and the three years he spent with her had been a memorable one. “Enough. It's okay, that's enough, this will help you,” Jones said and reached out to take his wine glass from him. Noahbdidn't say a word as was typical of him. Rather, he filled his glass one more time and gulped the contents. Then he took his car keys and stood up. This action caused Jones to raise a brow and look at him in surprise. “Noah? Where do you think you are going?”“Home. You asked me to stop drinking right now.”“Home? Like this?”“Do you think I'm drunk, Jones? No, I'm not and that's because I learnt how to drink
Emily stared at her friend, Gu Yanxi with her mouth half open. To her alone, Gu Yanxi told the full details of her disappearance. “I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say,” she whispered, utterly dumbfounded at the recent news. “Let's talk about something else, I don't want to recall that. It's disheartening. I can't even…” Gu Yanxi started but the tears beclouded her words. Emily pulled her into her embrace.“Don't cry, you should not cry over people like her, they are not to be trusted. Let's all happy that you came out alive. Now, you will be very wary of her. Wipe your tears, dearest.” Gu Yanxi wiped her tears and sat up. “Tell me about yourself. How have you been all these while?” “Nothing really, it's been a busy…” Emily started but Gu Yanxi interrupted.“Your ring. Where's it?”“What?”“Emily? Did you lose your wedding ring?”Emily looked at her hands, bare of the expensive diamond ring. She didn't know how to explain to her friend that she has divorced Noah.“Say som